– Persaud tells int’l expertsSeveral high level meetings are underway in Guyana with world experts,NFL Jerseys Wholesale, stakeholders and government, as this country prepares its case of using its pristine forests for possible financial and other considerations by the international community.Speaking with representatives who are visiting from Norway, the World Bank and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud, stressed that this country is in a state of preparedness and current systems to protect its forests are “robust”.The meeting was held at the Kingston office of the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) and is being touted as a key one.“Testimony to our good stewardship of the forest resources is the fact that even though approximately 46 % of the state forest estate has been allocated as production forest,Cheap Jerseys From China, our rate of deforestation is recognised as being less than 1%,” he said.Stressing that Guyana is at a point when several aspects of the work on climate change have commenced both at the strategic and operational levels, the Minister reminded that on June 8, 2009, Guyana’s Draft Low Carbon Development Strategy was launched.“This visionary strategy outlines Guyana’s views on how through real,China NFL Jerseys, meaningful partnership,Wholesale Jerseys US, a platform for reconciling economic growth and climate change mitigation can be created.”The strategy also further solidifies Guyana’s commitment to meeting its national and international obligations as part of this process, he argued.Over the past three months, Guyana has been engaged in a thorough, transparent process of stakeholder consultation on the LCDS and in the process has not only consulted with 141 communities, but also participated in a number of sectoral stakeholder awareness sessions.According to the Minister, Guyana already has in place a credible chain of custody which is based on a national log tagging/log tracking system. The semi-autonomous regulatory agency, the GFC, is fully decentralised with 25 well-staffed and equipped forest stations countrywide.Persaud, in making his case of Guyana work for the LCDS, noted that “further,Cheap Jerseys From China, all concessionaires must adhere to an annual allowable quota which is scientifically calculated using forest inventory, concession size, felling cycle and other relevant data. Monitoring of compliance is done using the latest technology complemented by very dedicated field ground truthing.”However, he warned that these measures do not mean that Guyana’s forests are not under threat.“On a weekly basis, we get very lucrative offers from local and foreign investors who want access to our forest resources – for traditional timber operations; but also for conversion of natural forest into other land uses such as oil palm plantations, and mining.The minister acknowledged that the monitoring and enforcement of the forests will need to be reviewed to guarantee the “required greater level of compliance, leading ultimately to improved management of the forest resources, and even more reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation when compared to the business as usual scenario.”Stressing the importance of the workshop to the process,NFL Jerseys China Cheap, Persaud called for an agreement on what are the essential ingredients for Guyana’s monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) system.The Guyana Forestry Commission is scheduled to collaborate with the Office of Climate Change to hold another workshop today on MRV at the Guyana International Convention Centre, Liliendaal.Under the LCDS, Guyana is expecting to receive possible financial considerations for maintaining its forests.